Post by Scumhunter on Jul 13, 2021 12:05:15 GMT -5
(Above photo credit: lasvegasoptic.com)
From the Santa Fe New Mexican (santafenewmexican.com):
Every month, Jessie Rivera has replaced the “Missing Person” signs around Las Vegas, N.M., continuing to raise awareness of his daughter, Cindy “Tig” Rivera, who was 19 when she disappeared years ago from a home on Peggy Lane.
Authorities long have believed the young mother of two was abducted and killed in the early morning hours of June 30, 2012. But her body was never recovered, and no one was charged in the case.
That changed Friday, when New Mexico State Police, following a nine-year investigation, obtained an arrest warrant for a man suspected of being an accomplice in her death.
State police believe 37-year-old Anselmo “Chemo” Richard Ortiz helped Cindy Rivera’s ex-husband, the father of her oldest child, kidnap and kill her, according an arrest warrant affidavit filed in San Miguel County Magistrate Court. Ortiz is charged with kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping.
The ex-husband, Christopher Trujillo, took his own life in La Cienega in May, the document says, adding he left incriminating evidence on his phone.
Officer Dusty Francisco, a state police spokesman, wrote in an email Monday, “Based on the totality of the evidence, including statements made by Christopher Trujillo, Cindy Rivera is deceased and was killed by Christopher Trujillo. Her remains have not been located.”
As of Monday, Ortiz had not been arrested.
Rivera left behind two sons. Jason, now 12, is in the custody of Trujillo’s mother. The younger boy, 10-year-old Cortez, is being raised by her family.
The last nine years were “not a happy place” for the Rivera family, Cindy Rivera’s sister said in an interview Monday. Holidays and her birthday, Feb. 23, have been the most difficult to bear.
“For me and my family, it’s been terrible,” Angela Rivera said. “[Cindy] was the heart of our family. I can’t even put it into words. Life will never be the same.”
She was not surprised state police have named Trujillo and Ortiz as the suspects in her sister’s disappearance and death.
“Back in 2012, when they took her, we knew it was them,” Angela Rivera said.
Cindy Rivera had been staying at the Peggy Lane home, where she and her mother were live-in caretakers for an ailing man. She had been there just two or three days before she went missing, Angela Rivera said.
Her sister reported her disappearance to Las Vegas police after their mother, who had been staying at her boyfriend’s home, received a concerning phone call the night before. Cindy Rivera had called around 1 a.m. June 30 and said Trujillo was outside the Peggy Lane house and intoxicated.
By 2 a.m., the man in her and mother’s care, Pedro Martinez, heard Cindy Rivera’s infant son, Cortez, crying in a locked bathroom.
Rivera was gone.
By analyzing phone records for Trujillo, Ortiz and Rivera, state and local investigators learned the two men were near her in Las Vegas between 12:30 a.m. and 4 a.m. that day.
Trujillo’s family members told police they saw the men that afternoon “only wearing pants and shirtless,” with scratches and bite marks on their chests.
Ortiz’s ex-wife told investigators he appeared at one point with a Walmart bag full of bloody clothing.
The woman’s mother said they “were dirty, and she could see blood on their clothing,” according to the affidavit. She also saw blood on Ortiz’s neck and Trujillo’s face. The bags of bloody clothing were burned in a fireplace, she added.
Ortiz was convicted of drug-trafficking charges after Cindy Rivera’s disappearance and was imprisoned from 2013 to 2019. After his release, he began working for Trujillo at All American Towing in Las Vegas. But their relationship began to deteriorate, the affidavit says.
Ortiz was accused of using company credit cards for personal charges. Later, Trujillo accused Ortiz of revealing an affair to his wife and threatened to harm Ortiz’s son.
In January, Ortiz was in police custody again on suspicion of drunken driving. In April, he wanted to speak with investigators to discuss Rivera’s disappearance. And on April 30, he reached out to her family members on Facebook.
“I can honestly say I didn’t have anything to do with it but there’s a chance I could be wrong about location or he has done something else,” one Facebook message read, according to the affidavit.
As Ortiz considered discussing the case with police, Trujillo was struggling.
Trujillo’s wife approached state police May 2 with concerns that he “wanted to kill himself and Anselmo Ortiz,” the affidavit says.
Two days later, Santa Fe County deputies responded to Trujillo’s suicide in La Cienega. Investigators searching Trujillo’s phone for evidence in the Rivera case found numerous recorded conversations, one of which was particularly incriminating.
“I killed my ex-wife, Cindy Rivera, and buried her in the national forest. I’m going to tell them Chemo killed her and buried her,” Trujillo said in one conversation, according to the affidavit.
Amber Trujillo, his wife, told police the two had argued before he killed himself. Trujillo was accusing her of having an affair with Ortiz, she said, according to a Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office report on the suicide.
Angela Rivera confirmed Ortiz had contacted the family in the weeks before Trujillo’s death. She said he was attempting to get full immunity and the $50,000 reward the family was offering to anyone who could help find Cindy Rivera’s body.
“It never went any further because obviously we’re not going to give him the reward nor full immunity,” she said.
The Rivera family now hopes someone will come forward with information leading to Ortiz’s arrest.
They are seeking justice and accountability, they said, but most of all they want to find Cindy Rivera’s body so they can lay to rest their daughter, sister and mother.
www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/new-mexico-authorities-issue-warrant-in-cold-case-homicide/article_c6be6898-e32b-11eb-83c5-9fb8621a5490.html
Additional article on case: www.kob.com/new-mexico-news/man-charged-in-connection-to-2012-disappearance-of-las-vegas-woman/6169243/
Thoughts? We previous covered Cindy's case on our forum when it was a missing persons case. I put 2021 as Ortiz's wanted year since even though he allegedly helped Trujillo abduct and kill Cindy in 2012, the warrant was not issued until this year.
Also a reminder this case is the Las Vegas in New Mexico and not Nevada.
amwfans.com previous coverage on Cindy's case amwfans.com/thread/4354/cindy-rivera-new-mexico-2012
Admin Note #1: According to online articles, anyone with indormation on this fugitive's whereabouts should contact the New Mexico State Police: www.sp.nm.gov/
Admin Note #2: If you have any (news-related) updates on this case, please contact us here: amwfans.com/thread/1662/website-contact-form
